All goods coming into Indonesia must be cleared through Customs and it’s subject to customs duty and other taxes related to import unless specifically exempted from duty by law. Import clearance procedure involves a number of steps as the followings:

Imported goods are not legally entered, until after the arrival of the vessel with the limits of the port of entry. Upon the arrival of the vessel, the Master or His agent is obliged to lodge a General Declaration covering all cargoes and supplies on board to the Customs Service Office not later than the date of the arrival, exclusive of Sundays and Holidays, or any authorized extension, must be furnished with the following information:

Name and flag of the vessel and also the name of her master;

Country of Origin, place(s) and of loading/departure;

Quantity, marking, numbering, and other descriptions of packaging of goods, including weight and volume (cubic content);

Kind and quantity of goods which is not packed.

After reporting the vessel’s content to Customs Service Office, the goods can be unloaded at the authorized piers and places (approved landing places), or at any other authorized places subject to the request of the carrier.

Goods may be declared by the importer or the customs broker on his behalf. The declarant, in order to obtain clearance of goods for home use or temporary importation must perform the followings:

to lodge the importer declaration (PIB), together with the relevant supporting documents such as: commercial invoice, airway bill or B/L, packing list, etc;

to pay import duties and taxes;

to ensure the accuracy for the particulars in the PIB such as among others: classification or HS/Customs code, custosm value, etc.

In addition the declarant is not only able to, under customs supervision, conduct a preliminary inspection and draw samples of goods before lodging the goods declaration for home use, but also able to obtain advance information from Customs on valuation and/or classification of the goods concerned.

Declaration must be made on an import declaration form called “Import Declaration” (PIB) which should be lodged at the Customs Service Office during the office hours.

After submittance of general declaration, the goods are allowed to be deposited in the customs temporary storages (sheds or open spaces) at the port of entry for a maximum period of 2 months, commenced from the date of unloading; however, in Tanjung Priok port of entry, the maximum period of temporary storage is only 1 month. The goods which is not yet cleared within the specified time will be treated as unclaimed goods in which Customs is empowered to remove, destroy, reexport, or sell such goods by auction.

In the case of the unclaimed goods, the importer or his agent is able to, within one-year-of-removal to the Customs Warehouse, lodge the PIB. If the goods is still not claimed by then and if the importer fails to settle expenses incurred for the removal and deposit of the goods, Customs is authorized to sell such goods by auction or otherwise dispose such goods as decided by the Minister of Finance.

The proceeds of the sale are used to cover import duties, taxes, and other expenses. The balance will be returned to the importer if a claim is made within a period of 3 years started from the date of deposit in the Customs Warehouse. If it is not claimed by then, the balance will be appropriated for the State revenue. If the value of the unclaimed goods is not enough to cover the import duties, taxes, and other expenses, those goods, which are not harmful or dangerous, shall be destroyed after three years being taken into custody.

Examination is normally done in the presence of the declarant at legally specified places during office hours. The scope of the examination is normally up to 10%; however, when an offence is detected, a thorough examination will be carried out.

The declarant is responsible for loading and unloading, unpacking, repacking, and providing other facilities needed for the examination of goods. When examination revels and discrepancy, the sample of goods may be extracted for proper classification and assessment of value, duties, and taxes or for any other purposes as may be determined by Customs.

Customs duties are classified as ad valorem and specific. An ad valorem duty is a percentage which is applied to the dutiable value of the imported goods. Whereas a specific duty is a specified amount per unit of weight, gauge or other measurement of quantity, e.g. Rp.10,000.00 per kilogram under metric system, etc.

Payment of duty and taxes for imported goods shall be done through foreign exchange bank. As for goods brought by passengers coming from abroad which are not classified as commercial goods, the payment of duty and taxes can be done at the Customs Service Office at the airport. Passengers shall be given a receipt on the spot for duty paid. Any overpayment of duty is returned and underpayment is billed.

In principal imported goods should be released immediately; nevertheless, when an offence is detected, a thorough re-examination will be carried out by Customs. The release of goods will be subject to normal customs procedures. In the case of the value of imported goods can not be assessed promptly due to laboratory analysis requirement, Customs may permit the release of the goods after taking samples or obtaining detailed technical documentations and the importer or declarant has submitted a guarantee to ensure the payment of any additional import duty and taxes might be incurred.

The Minister of Finance is empowered to remit the whole or any part of duty payable on any imported dutiable goods which by unavoidable accident or lost, damaged or destroyed at any time after their arrival within the limit and before removal from Customs control.

To facilitate trade, Customs has provided a facility for temporary importation. This facility allows importers to import temporarily goods without any duty payment under condition, within certain period of time, the goods must be re-exported. Otherwise the goods will be considered as permanently imported or home use and the importers are obliged to pay the duty and taxes incurred as well as fine amounting 100% of customs duty payable.

Goods which are eligible for obtaining temporary admission facility are as follows:

Goods used for seminars and the like;

Goods used for public entertainment purposes;

Goods used by experts for research, educational, religious, and cultural purposes, and for making film/movies;

Container used to transport goods repeatedly;

Goods used for samples, models or molds;

Articles used for games;

Vehicles or means of transport used by tourists themselves;

Articles used for oil drilling operation;

Articles to be repaired, reconditioned, modified, tested or maintained;

Live animals used for publics entertainment, training, breed or the like.